the blooming lotus
by The master of awesome
Summary: the stories of the white lotus before they were great. From the slums of the fire nation to village at the bottom of the world every hero comes from somewhere.
1. Chapter 1

The sun beat relentlessly down upon the patio stones of the academy, cracking the tiles beneath the student's feet. The sound of clashing metal rang heavy in the air accompanied by the tired grunts of the young men wielding the weapons. A gong stopped the clashing of the swords and forced twenty pairs of eyes upwards. A man stood at the top of a flight of stairs, clearly disappointed with the performance of his students. He walked slowly down the stairs turning his head left and right, daring anyone to make eye contact. All of the students sank to their knees placing their blades on the ground in front of them.

Off to the side of the grounds, hidden by a wall of bamboo knelt another boy, skinnier than the others and clearly less well off. The make-shift wooden sword sat on the grass in front of him. The boy smirked, through the gaps in the bamboo Pian-dao could clearly see the sweat on all the other boys faces while he remained quite full of energy.

The instructor stopped in the middle of the courtyard and with lightning fast reflexes, grabbed a boy by the scruff of his neck, holding the boy in front of him. Even from his impaired vantage point Pian-dao could see the ice in his stare.

"I'm sorry sir." The mumbled, clearly scared speechless

"For what?" Pian-dao could never get used to the steel in the man's voice.

"I...don't know sir" the quiver in the boy's voice was unmistakable

The instructor dropped the boy and walked several steps away before stopping. The boy landed awkwardly but quickly scrambled to his knees. The instructor kept his back turned.

"Sir…?" Pian-dao winced, he had been "attending" the lessons to know what the instructor was about to do.

The instructor spun, unsheathing the blade at his waist and held it against the boy's throat. This process took less than a second.

"Clearly you have a reaction problem."

The boy quivered, unsure how to react to this devilment. Pian-dao turned his head, unable to look. He knew that the boy was not going to be hurt but the steel in the instructors eyes would beg to differ.

"S-s-sorry sir…"

"You should be."

The instructor withdrew his blade and began to walk away as if nothing had ever happened. The boy collapsed, clearly scared to the point of tears. Several of the other boys eyed him, unsure whether moving to comfort the boy would wise in the presence of a mad man.

Pian-dao turned, unwilling to watch the cruelty continue. He began walking the concealed path to wall of the estate, completely lost in thought. As such he did not see the fallen trunk of bamboo across the path. This was quite possibly the worst thing that could have happened.

To Pian-dao the moment happened in slow motion. The thoughts of the instructor cracked and shattered like a broken mirror. The fall itself had little consequence but sound is the stealthy's worst nightmare.

The instructor's head swiveled faster than the eye could track. His eyes narrowed, pin-pointing the sound of a young boy falling in his garden.

Pian-dao scrambled to his feet, abandoning all illusions of silence. He didn't know what he was expecting but he wasn't sticking around to figure out what. The wall was less than thirty feet away but to the fleeing child it felt like miles.

A series of loud _clacks _drew his attention behind him. In the half second that Pian-dao saw the source of the noise it took him more than half of that to get over disbelief the remained was split between a silent profanity and a dive.

Pian-dao hit the ground hard. Thanking the spirits porously when he heard the _hiss _pass over his head. He raised head to see that the finely detailed blade had impaled itself in the wall above him.

Pian-dao jumped grabbing the wall looking desperately for a hand hold above him. His eye was drawn to a glimmer next to him and in a fit of irrationality Pian-dao grabbed the sword suck in the wall before scaling the barrier to freedom.

first story so tell me what you think in the comments. ill be updating about once a week. four of the members will have several chapters stoy lines that will end at the finaly. also check out my friend fluff kitty on the site, until next time, peace.


	2. Chapter 2

The thump of a snowball woke Pakku from his daydream. He grimaced as the wet snow trickled down his back. The girl he had been staring at giggled.

"Hey lover boy, you playing?"

Pakku growled and raised his hand causing a patch of snow the size of his head to lift off the ground.

Pakku spun, turning to face the boy behind him. The boy was a couple of years older than him, and wore a cocky smile on his face. A snow ball the at least twice the size of Pakku's hovered above his hand.

"What do you want Keplar?" Pakku spat.

The boys smile grew.

"I want to know if you're going to play or if you're just going to stare at your girlfriend all day."

"She's not my girlfriend!"

Kana, the girl Pakku had been so ensnared with, blushed a brilliant red and hid behind one of the children of the growing circle around the two boys.

"So are you playing?" Keplar's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Hell yeah I am." Keplar appeared amused by this act of defiance.

"Look at you, making a stand for the lady."

Pakku said nothing.

"Very Noble, but that's just going to make it more fun when I stomp you into the ground."

Pakku was tired of banter. Without warning he swung his arm, firing his snow ball directly at Keplar.

It was a perfect shot. The collided with Keplar's face mid-sentence, forcing the older boy to one knee while he spat snow out of his mouth. Pakku was initially very pleased with the shot; he had temporarily incapacitated the biggest bully in the village and right in front of kana too. The gears finally started to turn when Keplar stood up.

The boys glare could have drilled holes in the ice. Pakku retreated nervously, all celebratory thought gone from his mind.

"You hit me when I was talking."

The boys voice was eerily calm.

"Why would you do that?"

Pakku continued to stare at the ground.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" He bellowed

Pakku searched desperately for some means of escape, perhaps a penguin-ant could save him.

"You are going to shit snow for weeks." Keplar spat.

Pakku abandoned hope of escape and took a defensive stance.

"You a fighter now? Eat shit."

Pakku said nothing, focusing all his energy on not being knocked on his butt. Keplar whipped his arm around, propelling the snow at Pakku.

Pakku flung his arms up in a clumsy water bending block. The motion caught most of the snow directed at his chest but a large chunk flew directly over it. Pakku did not see the ten pounds of snow moving towards his head. He did see the snow bank he landed in, rather painfully I might add.

Pakku was very confused, he remembered falling and darkness. He searched though his memory looking desperately for a memory to grasp, but all eluded him. The light shone brilliantly on Pakku's newly opened eyes. A figure blocked some of the light, the light poking through her walnut hair. It took several tries for Pakku to force the words from his lips.

"…A…are you an angel?"

The girl giggled.

"I'm flattered Pakku."

Kana's voice immediately brought the fuzzy memories within reach.

"Are you O.K.?" Kana asked

"I think so." Pakku did his best to smile

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow" Kana got up, smiled and walked toward the direction of her house.

Pakku grinned stupidly and laid back in the snow.

**AN: Early update! Just cause you guys are awesome. Any way forgot to mention that everyone is twelve in their first chapter. Next will be Bumi followed by Iroh, until then peace. **


	3. Chapter 3

Bumi was grinning like a loon. Not that this monumental by any stretch of the imagination, in fact it would be a memorable day if he wasn't smiling. This grin was important because of its location. Bumi was hiding in a mail cart at the cart hub, the home of all the mail tracks in omashu.

Bumi giggled, he had found a half empty cart addressed to the sheng district at the base of the city. He was buried in the various scrolls and envelopes that cart contained, waiting impatiently for the distinct thump of the cart being propelled down the track.

The sound couldn't have come soon enough for Bumi. He had been waiting for five minutes but to the twelve year old it felt like hours. He only barely managed to wait the first few seconds necessary to escape line of sight. Once he was sure he was out of sight, Bumi did what any sane person riding a mail cart would do: poked his head up and laughed his fool head off.

The ride lasted only about two minutes but Bumi enjoyed every second. He was still laughing when he saw the end of the line. He had not considered this. Earth bending would get out quickly but he would be seen, Bumi opted for the more subtle approach.

The earth bender pulled Bumi out of the cart by the scruff of the neck. He had not counted on the cart being emptied immediately. The burly man continued to stare at Bumi. Bumi continued to stare back.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" The man yelled

"Isn't every one?" Bumi asked with a lopsided smile.

"That track moves fast enough to kill a moose lion! How are you not dead!"

Bumi smiled and shrugged. The guard glared at him. Bumi's mind was going a mile a minute, running scenario after scenario. He finally decided on the most logical course of action. He punched the guard in the face.

The man fell to his knee partially out of pain and partially out of surprise. Bumi captained by running as fast as he could. Bumi could hear than man get up behind him and shout in his direction, what he was shouting as unclear but the hostility was unmistakable.

Bumi was nervous. He had fled into the crowded yhao district but was not sure he lost his pursuer. He did his best to act normal, stopping to look at vendors, buying some noodles at the silver tiger and watching street performers. Gradually he began to relax, which of course is the worst thing he could have done.

A pair of hands grabbed him roughly, one on the shoulder the other in front of his face. Bumi knew immediately what had happened and hated himself for letting it happen. The man slammed him into the back wall of the alley he had been dragged into.

"I hate punks like you, running around, never facing any consequences of the stupid shit you do. Now that's going to change." The guard spat.

This time Bumi didn't bother with running scenarios. He shoved his heel into the ground, causing a rock spike to jump up between the guard's legs. To the man's credit he kept standing, unfortuneatly for him Bumi was not feeling particularly merciful today.

Bumi stomped, pulling a rock the size of a melon to burst from the ground. This marked the worst decision of Bumi's day. As opposed to firing the rock immediately he chose to wait for the man to look up at him. If he had fired, the man would have fallen over and Bumi could've just walked away. Now the earth bender knew what was happening and was rather inclined to stop it.

The rock spilt when it met the block, falling uselessly to the ground. The guard grinned.

"Never wait for your opponent, ever."

Bumi had barely begun to comprehend the magnitude of his blunder when he saw the man move again. He moved into a defensive stance, but even the greatest of stances could not stop a wall sneak attack. Bumi didn't hear the sound of the wall cracking, but he realized what was happening when he felt the wall slam into his side. The man had ripped part of the wall adjacent to Bumi and slammed it into his side. Bumi used his last conscience second to decide if the man was bad ass or a criminal.

Sadly he didn't have time to decide. He felt the opposite wall against his arm and felt the pressure of a fast moving wall crushing you. He heard a crack that he decided must be his spine and fell to the grou d amongst the ruble.  
As the black spots completely eclipsed his vision, he prayed to the spirits that the concussion would kill him quickly.


	4. Chapter 4

Iroh sat at the top of the tree and glared. His younger brother boasted to his friends completely unaware of his watcher. Iroh was becoming less and less surprised by his younger brothers bold announcements. His father had dismissed his concerns as childish fantasies. So Iroh was left to sit in the cherry tree in one of the many courtyards of the fire palace, watch his eight year old brother and gather as much information as he could.

Normally Iroh was not a suspicious person but the nature of his little brother worried him a great deal. He walked around the gardens, proclaiming his ideas for world domination. Iroh openly criticised these stragies. They involved using platoons of new recruits as meat shield or distractions. Father was very pleased that his son was interested in military tactics at all and encouraged his son to continue. Iroh debated on confronting his father on his shaky parenting but quickly decided against it. "Disloyalty" was not tolerated in the royal family.

Iroh intended to win the war with fire nation genius, not cowardice and under handed tactics. How could he do that if his coward of a brother was on the throne?

"After the first wave is slaughtered, the real force will attack from behind!"

Iroh scowled, his brother was boasting to his friends. He was awfully bold for some-one not line for a throne. Not that any-one else would care.

"But you're not in line to the throne." One of friends remarked, unsure as to why this conversation was happening.

"Because my brother is weak, father will change the birth right when he sees my brother's 'skill'"

Iroh dropped from the tree, landing directly in front of his brother.

"Treachery, brother" Iroh spat.

Ozai smirked.

"Is eaves dropping any better?"

"YES IT IS!" Iroh exploded.

"Do you want to fight about it?" Ozai questioned, clearly amused by his brother's fury.

Iroh did not hesitate. Pulling his hands back and then pushing them forward, unleashing a fire storm at his brother. Ozai retreated desperately, all traces of cocky collection gone. He wasn't fast enough, the force of the storm knocked him flat on his face.

Iroh smirked, the gravity of his actions completely lost on him. Ozai scrambled to his feet and ran, not looking back.

"Coward!" Iroh yelled after him. It took Iroh exactly 4 seconds to figure out where Ozai was running to. When he finally did he was to late. The Fire lord had been tattled to.

"Iroh?" The voice could have cut iron.

"Yes sir?" Iroh's voice quivered.

"Why were you in that tree?"

"My brother spoke of tyranny."

"Have I not told you to disregard such ramblings?"

"You have, sir."

A wave of fire shot from the throne, knocking Iroh on his back.

"THEN DO AS I SAY!"

"Yes sir."

"Leave my sight."

Iroh got to his feet and turned, determined to squash any chance of his brother being king.

AN: sorry for the short chapter guys but I'm working my butt off to make silver tiger more awesome. There some issues so i wrote this to tide you guys over. I'm not sure when chapter two of silver tiger will be out but it will be soon. Until then the review button is your friend and stay awesome.


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